The Only Buddhist Nun in Greece

OK, we’re talking 1991.
I was out on the Greek island of Paros, looking for a gig or an adventure. Walking through the town square one day I saw this thing on the town notice board “Buddhist nun requires volunteers to help build a centre in Butterfly Valley” Well flippin hell, I had only recently been in a Buddhist Monastery in England where they’d sorted out my woes to great effect, and I had a vision of me going up to that place and giving her the biggest hug ever. Dunno why I thought that, cos you don’t normally hug nuns on the whole, but as it went she was a Kiwi Tibetan nun.
What a gal, ex political activist, karate black belt, had her own radio spot back in NZ. And she was also the only nun I ever heard swear.  “Some rich devotee left this place to the Dalai Lama and he sent me out here to build it up in the middle of the bush with only two fuckin cats for company”
But tough as she was, a bloke who spoke Greek and could hump a bag of cement was a great asset to her cos at the end of the day she was a yellow and maroon bedecked woman in a far off place.
And the beauty of it, I had her to myself for two weeks. And her personal late night dhamma talks were amazing, she had this kinda ‘stream of consciousness’ hypnotic style.
(By the way I was having an affair with a mad Greek woman back in town at the time, and I would nip back there occasionally as you do, and take in a football match and sink a few while I was at it, so I was pretty happy with life. Problem was this Greek gal was on the fringe of the local mafia and one or two of them had taken umbrage to laughing boy getting straight off the ferry and into her bed.)
But back to the nun. She had contacted all of her global allies to come and help her build the centre, but this involved transport from the centre to the port so she could meet them from the ferry. So here’s where I came in. I asked the local farmer to take us there and he said I’d have to work in his field all day to pay for the ride. Fuckin hell, bales of hay or what? Ow ar
The first one we picked up was a Brazilian Shiatsu masseuse from New York. What a gal again, she would walk into any space and pick up the vibe. Eventually she worked her magic on me and I swear she got me so relaxed that she left the room and I didn’t even notice.
The next one was a yoga teacher, American, flying in from India. This guy was the best teacher of yoga I have ever known and he taught me a personal programme that makes me feel a million dollars to this day, when I can be bothered, (I am a lazy f….er.)
But it was at the port café, waiting for this guy that I had a ‘moment’.
On one side of the café was the local mafia, clearly waiting for an opportunity to show me their feelings. However I was drinking tea with the most unusual and esoteric being that anyone had seen in those parts ever. I was protected, as I had protected her.
I looked up into the clear Greek sky and said ‘God, why are you doing this to me?’